1. Field of the Invention
The field of the invention relates to the field of roof covers for what are known as pop-outs in trailers including cast trailers and mobile homes. A mobile home or cast trailer is basically a generally rectangular structure that has a given width and a given length. In order to improve the interior usable space, the construction also includes what is called a pop-out which is an interior room that is slidably placed within the mobile home or trailer while it is being transported from one location to another and then is slid out on rails so that the width of the trailer for usable interior space is expanded. Pop-outs can be one sided or there can be more than one pop-out on one side or there can be pop-outs on both sides of the trailer. The present invention relates to the field of providing roofs for the pop-outs after they are in there expanded position out of the trailer.
2. Detailed Description of the Prior Art
In general the concept of having some roofs for pop-outs is known in the prior art. The following 12 patents are relevant to the field of the present invention:    1. U.S. Pat. No. 2,811,935 issued to Howard G. Jones on Nov. 5, 1957 for “Fabricated Sheet Metal Trailer Awning” (hereafter the “Jones Patent”);    2. U.S. Pat. No. 2,909,220 issued to Joseph E. Zimmerman on Oct. 20, 1959 for “House Trailer Awning” (hereafter the “Zimmerman Patent”);    3. U.S. Pat. No. 3,286,404 issued to James K. Harrison on Nov. 22, 1966 for “Metal Awning With Adjustable Mounting Construction” (hereafter the “Harrison Patent”);    4. U.S. Pat. No. 3,800,484 issued to Robert D. Marshall on Apr. 2, 1974 for “Awning For Travel Trailers And The Like” (hereafter the “Marshall Patent”);    5. U.S. Pat. No. 4,170,378 issued to Gerald A. Jacobsen on Oct. 9, 1979 for “Combined Wind Deflector And Window Awning Assembly For Recreational Trailers” (hereafter the “Jacobsen Patent”);    6. U.S. Pat. No. 4,198,998 issued to Donald D. Duffy on Apr. 22, 1980 for “Retractable Awning” (hereafter the “Duffy Patent”);    7. U.S. Pat. No. 5,381,844 issued to Francis L. Struben on Jan. 17, 1995 for “Portable Two-Way Aluminum Awning For Recreational Vehicles” (hereafter the “Struben Patent”);    8. U.S. Pat. No. 5,752,556 issued to William David Steadman on May 19, 1998 for “Support Arrangement” (hereafter the “Steadman Patent”);    9. U.S. Pat. No. 6,695,388 issued to March Thisdale on Feb. 24, 2004 for “Awning Device, Kit and Method of Using” (hereafter the “Thisdale Patent”);    10. U.S. Pat. No. 7,055,890 issued to Johnnie R. Crean on Jun. 6, 2006 for “Awning For Recreational Vehicles” (hereafter the “'890 Crean Patent”);    11. U.S. Pat. No. 7,234,760 issued to Johnnie R. Crean on Jun. 26, 2007 for “Top-Mounted Awning Assembly For Recreational Vehicles” (hereafter the “'760 Crean Patent”);    12. United States Published Patent Application No. 2009/0056884 to Jeffrey A. Vogt on Mar. 5, 2009 for “Wind Resistant Awning” (hereafter the “Vogt Published Patent Application”).
The Jones Patent discloses a hard awning which extends from the trailer. The patent discloses an awning which can be disassembled and placed in the trailer for transportation and then fabricated and retained by a J-shaped member as best illustrated in FIG. 8 and retained by Pole C.
The Zimmerman Patent discloses a house trailer awning. The concept of this invention is that it provides an awning which can be folded and which is disposable when folded onto the top of a roof or trailer body so as to avoid taking up room within the body. The cover is intended to be stored on the roof of a trailer and does not have a covering of a roof for a pop-out.
The Harrison Patent discloses an awning with an adjustable mounting structure. The patent discloses the concept of having an awning which can be rotatable so that if we rotate it out and then support it on posts 18.
The Marshall Patent discloses an awning which can be rotated to be affixed to the side of a trailer and is supported by posts that provide shelter.
The Jacobsen Patent discloses a combination wind deflector and window awning assembly.
The Duffy Patent discloses a retractable awning which can rest against the side of a vehicle and then can be expanded as best shown in FIG. 1 to provide a shelter awning under which a person can stand.
The Struben Patent discloses a portable awning which discloses the following:                “The present invention is a portable two-way awning for use with recreational type trailer vehicles. The awning is comprised of a number of roof panels made with two sheets of aluminum surrounding a polystyrene core. A hanger mechanism is bonded to each of the panels, and suspends them on an adapter rail that slidingly engages with a standard awning attachment rail. The roof panels mate together via a number of interlocking members disposed on their mating sides. The outer periphery of the roof assembly is surrounded with a number of extrusion members. Once the roof assembly is pivoted to a nearly horizontal position, it is supported at its front end by a number of adjustable height poles, two of which swing freely into a vertical position when the roof is initially erected. The awning requires no tools or caulking to set-up, and takes less than thirty minutes to either erect or dismantle. The awning is relatively light in weight, yet strong enough to withstand the harshest of weather conditions.”        
The Steadman Patent discloses a support arrangement. Specifically, the patent discloses:                “A support arrangement (12) for mounting an awning or similar on a wall (14). The arrangement (12) includes a first elongate member (18) one end of which is pivotally mountable on the wall (14). The other end of the member (18) pivotally mounts a shorter second member (28). A third elongate member (32) is provided slidably mounted to the second member (28) and lockable to the first member (18) when in a parallel relationship therewith. The end of the member (32) away from the member (18) is pivotally mountable to an awning (10). By virtue of the respective sliding, pivoting and locking of the members (18,28,32), the arrangement (12) can adopt a collapsed position with the members (18,28,32) lying against each other such that the awning (10) can lie against the wall (14), or an erect condition with the members (18,28,32) in alignment and adjustable in length to provide for different inclinations of the awning (10).”        
The Thisdale Patent discloses a hard cover for an awning but it is effectively supported by exterior posts 18. Specifically, the patent discloses:                “an awning for use as an auxiliary ran shield over a sleeping unit slidably attached to a recreational camping vehicle comprising two pairs of securing brackets attached to a bottom platform of the sleeping unit of the recreational camping vehicle; a pair of corner posts attached to said two pair of securing brackets, each corner post having a flattened distal end, a clip attached to a middle portion, a hooked proximate end, and an elbow in the middle portion; a generally rectangular sheet having a pair of adjacent corners attached to said hooked proximate ends of said pair of corner posts; a primary adhesive strip attached to an edge of said sheet; and a complementary adhesive strip attached to a portion of a roof of the recreational camping vehicle, said complementary adhesive strip is reversibly attached to said primary adhesive strip.”        
However, this is an inefficient way to retain the awning in the used and unused condition as a roof for a pop-out.
The '890 Crean Patent discloses the concept of creating an awning which can be positioned over the front window of a trailer.
The '760 Crean Patent is a continuation-in-part of the previously Crean Patent and has the same disclosure.
In general, in addition to the above prior arts, the present inventor is aware of the fact that in general pop-outs have the soft cover roof which is basically rolled out to cover the pop-out when it is in the extended condition. The problem with the soft cover roof is that leaves and other debris can easily fall on the cover and cause problems with the mechanism that enables the cover to be retracted when the pop-out is in the closed condition. In addition, the wind and other elements can cause the pop-out to blow and create openings in the roof where rain and other elements can get into the interior of the pop-out when it is in the extended condition. The roll up cover which unrolls and is placed over the pop-out to provide a ceiling has a problem with the flexible material rollout cover is that if it rains or there are leaves or they get dirty, it is very difficult to clean and the dirt and debris sometimes goes in the rollout mechanism and basically causes the mechanism to be ruined.
Therefore, there is a significant need for an improved cover for a pop-out which eliminates the problems, associated with the prior art rollout pop-outs and also eliminates the problems that are not addressed in the prior art patents.